Posts Tagged carbon capture in China

China is the largest Carbon dioxide emitter in the world and it emits more than 3 billion ton Co2 per year. However, China’s per capita Co2 emission is less compared to USA or Europe. In 2009, per capita Co2 emission in China was 6.1. Nearly two-third of China’s energy needs ie 80% of electricity, 50% of industrial fuel use and 60% of chemical fuel use comes from coal. A number of studies show that coal will be a major part of China’s energy until at least 2030. Even though there are strong policy incentives for energy efficiency, renewables and other low carbon technologies, this situation will prevail. According to a research agency, emission from fossil fuel combustion has increased by 9 percent.

China uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined. But China is emerging as world’s leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants. Global warming gases from China are expected to continue to increase. China’s aim is to use the latest technologies to curb the rate of increase. Only half the country’s coal-fired power plants have the emissions control equipment to remove sulfur compounds that cause acid rain. 60% of new plants are being built using newer highly efficient technology. They are expensive.

Most of the coal resources are in the west and north regions of China; Shanxi, Shaanxi and inner Mongolia together account for 65% of the coal reserves while southern part of the country mainly Guizhou and Yunnan account for 13% of coal reserves. Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Xinijiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Ningxia, Guangdong, Hanian, Taiwan, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hubei etc. are the major coal resources in China.

Following are some of the CCS projects in China:

Luzhou Natural Gas Chemicals

Japan – China EOR Project

GreenGen

PCC Demo Project

Not enough information is available at present regarding other CCS projects in China. China if they are serious about reducing their CO2 emissions will have to go for a large number of CCS projects.

Luzhou Natural Gas Chemicals:

The Luzhou plant produces 400,000 t/y synthetic ammonia and 520,000 t/y urea for the fertiliser industry in China. Part of the plant contains a scrubber system that captures CO2 from the process for urea production. Fluor’s Econamine FGSM technology is used for Co2 capture in the Luzhou plant. The captured Co2 is used for the production of urea.

Luzhou Natural Gas Chemicals

Facts:

Project type: Capture

Volume: 160 t/d tonnes/CO2

Company/Alliance: Luzhou Natural Gas Chemicals (Group)

Location: Luzhou City, China

Capture Method: Post Combustion

Capture Technology: Amine

Status: Operational large scale project

Industry: Chemical products

Japan – China EOR project:

On May 7th 2008, the Governments of China and Japan have agreed to cooperate in a project to inject CO2 emitted from a thermal power plant in China into an oil field. About 1 to 3 million tons of CO2 will be captured annually from the Harbin Thermal Power Plant in Heilungkiang Province and potentially other plants elsewhere. It will then be transported by pipeline about 100 km to China’s largest oil field – the Daqing Oilfield, and injected and stored into the oilfield.

Harbin Thermal Power Plant

Facts:

Project type: Capture & Storage

Volume: 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 tonnes/CO2

Company/Alliance: China National Petroleum Corporation and other organizations from China Toyota Motor Company and JGC Corp., METI-affiliated Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) and other organizations from Japan participate in this project

Location: Haerbin, Heilongjiang, China

Capture Method: Post Combustion

Storage site: Daqing Oilfield

Type of storage: EOR

Status: Active

Industry: Coal Power Plant

Cost: 20 to 30 billion Yen

Project Start Year: 2009

GreenGen Project:

GreenGen is a joint venture representing China’s largest electric utilities and coal companies. The $1 billion GreenGen was founded in 2005. The main aims of GreenGen project are to develop and demonstrate a coal-based power generation system with hydrogen production through coal gasification, power generation from a combined-cycle gas turbine and fuel cells, and efficient treatment of pollutants and CO2. In April 2008, GreenGen and Tianjin officials signed an agreement for two 400-megawatt IGCC uni

PCC Demo project is china’s first Post Combustion Capture demonstration project. As part of Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate (APP), the project is based on the agreement between the Australian government research organization CSIRO and China’s Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI).

PCC demo project plant

Facts:

Project type: Capture

Volume: 3,000 tonnes/CO2

Company/Alliance: Australia’s CSIRO and China’s Thermal Power Research Institute

Capture Method: Post Combustion

Capture Technology: Amine

Status: Operative

Industry: Coal Power Plant

Year of Operation: 2008

Capital Cost: A$4 million

Shanghai Shidongkou power plant:

This is an ultra critical, coal fired power plant with a capacity of 660 MW located in northern shanghai. The plant is additionally equipped with carbon dioxide capture technology that separates and purifies CO2 from a flue gas stream to produce 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This is the largest such facility in china and one of the world’s largest carbon capture facility in the world. The captured CO2 is used food packing, dry ice and beverage carbonation.

This project has very low capture costs. The project broke ground July 2009. The Shanghai Shidongkou Second Power Plant had originally been developed, constructed and operated by the HIPDC before it was transferred to Huaneng in July 1997. The plant is located on the outskirts of Shanghai and has an installed capacity of 1200MW and consists of 2, 660MW coal fired units.

24 saline aquifiers with the capacity to store 1,435 billion tonnes of Co2

China’s Scientific and Technological actions on climate change were issued by MOST in 2007. MOST has been leading on drafting the Guide for CCS science and technology development. The Guide plans to determine the goal of CCS R&D in 2020 and 2030, to Identify major tasks for capture, storage, transportation, and utilization technology development etc.

International Cooperation on CCS Activities in China:

Other countries like United States, Australia, Japan, Canada and the EU support CCS initiatives in China.

The United States is funding a range of projects including “Building Regulatory Capacity in China – Guidelines for Safe and Effective Carbon Capture and Storage” and “Promoting Better Use of Coal Mine Methane. The Obama administration has signalled its interest in scaling up cooperation on clean coal technologies including CCS. Peabody, a US company, is a partner in the Chinese GreenGen IGCC/CCS project. China was one of the founder members of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a US-led initiative launched in 2003.

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has developed a post-combustion carbon capture plant with China’s Huaneng Group at the Gaobeidian Beijing plant – the first demonstration of its kind in China. Global CCS Institute of Australia has a strong interest in expanding CCS cooperation with China, building on the existing Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology, established in 2007. In April 2008 Australia announced that it was going to invest AUS$20 million in cooperation in China.

At the EU-China Summit in 2005 the two sides established a Climate Change Partnership. One of the main objectives of this was to develop and demonstrate advanced, near-zero emissions coal (NZEC) technology through CCS by 2020 in China and the EU. COACH (COoperation Action within CCS CHina-EU) is an EU R&D project exploring various aspects of CCS technology in partnership with China, with a focus on capture, transportation and storage of CO2 from an IGCC plant.

Japan and China have agreed to develop a CCS demonstration based on Enhanced Oil Recovery.

China is a member of Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF). CSLF is a ministerial level international climate change initiative for the development of cost effective technologies for carbon capture and sequestration.

CCS Research and Development Activities in China:

The current Chinese CCS-related projects are in cooperation with foreign partners and largely based on foreign investment. CCS projects are governed under Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). China has adequate capacity to store its CO2 emissions according to MOST and other studies related to CCS in China. The majority of emissions from large point sources can be stored in large deep saline formations at estimated transport and storage costs of less than $10/tCO2 excluding monitoring costs.

China has the theoretical capacity to store the CO2 produced from its major point sources according to studies. According to studies:

China has storage capacity in excess of 2,300 billion tonnes CO2 in onshore basins, with deep saline-filled sedimentary basins accounting for over 99% of the total.

There are over 1620 large stationary CO2 point sources that emit a combined 3.89 billion tonnes CO2/year and 91% are within 100 miles of a candidate deep geological storage formation;

Preliminary analysis suggests that the majority of emissions from China’s large CO2 point sources can be stored in large deep saline formations at estimated transport and storage costs of less than $10/tCO2 (not including monitoring costs).

China’s National Actions for low- carbon economic development:

From 1990 onwards China began to give importance in climate change and participated in international efforts. China is promoting energy conservation and emission reduction. Also low – carbon development was proposed in China. China made official emission reduction commitment.

Some of the China’s actions for low – carbon economic development since 1990:

1990: Chinese government sent delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

1992: Chinese government signed UNFCCC.

1998: China signed Kyoto protocol.

2002: China ratified the Kyoto protocol, China integrated the climate issues in to the general strategy of constructing “harmonious society and harmonious world” in the 16th CPC National Congress.

2006: In the 11th 5-year plan, the mandatory target to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent has been set; Ministry of Science and Technology, China National Meteorological Administration, National Development and Reform Commission, State Environmental Protection Administration jointed Publicized National Assessment Report on Climate Change.

2007: The mid-term GHG emission reduction target was set in the APEC conference.

2009: 2.1 trillion yuan was devoted to energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection areas; Chinese government issued official document to implement Bali Roadmap, making clear China’s stance on this issue and its willingness and determination to push forward positive outcomes in the Copenhagen conference; President Hu Jintao illustrated China’s concrete measures to tackle climate change in the United Nations Summit on Climate Change.

2011: The UK has made an agreement with China to formally work together on low-carbon growth. China has set a national carbon intensity reduction target of 17% and intends to cut energy intensity by 16% by 2015.

China’s 2020 goals fighting climate change:

Reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 % compared with the level of 2005

Increase the share of non-fossil-fuel power (renewable energy, nuclear, etc.) to15% of the country’s total primary energy consumption by 2020

Increase 40 million hectares of forest areas and forest volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters from the levels of 2005